History Main / DesignatedLoveInterest

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
* DesignatedLoveInterest: Brian and Lois. Before the series amplified their character traits, Brian only seemed to be interested in Lois because she's nice and caring, which isn't really going above and beyond a stereotypical housewife and matriarch. Outside their relationship as dog and owner, the two don't really have enough depth to show how they could work as a couple and the primary argument that Brian has when it comes to being in a relationship with Lois is that Peter doesn't appreciate her enough and she can do better with Brian. The series rarely shows her and Brian bonding over any shared interests or showing how Lois is still attracted to Peter despite Brian's efforts. In recent seasons, the crush has devolved into just sexual attraction as Brian openly lusts for Lois and admits that he just wants to have sex with her, not date her.

* ''Franchise/TheIncredibleHulk:'' In the earliest days, Betty Ross was one of these. Much of her page-time was spent mooning or swooning over Dr. Banner, while he scarcely afforded her a thought, even without the hassle of the Hulk or the latest villain of the week making trouble. The Hulk was more interested in her than he was.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

** [[Characters/SpiderManLoveInterests Gwen Stacy]] was absolutely this when she was alive. Creator/StanLee after playing with a love triangle between Peter/MJ/Gwen for a few issues had Peter get into a relationship with Gwen which astonished many readers who were wondering what the long-buildup and wait for MJ across 20 issues was all about. Even after they got together, Lee and Romita Sr. never properly developed her as a character aside from shilling her (such as fan-favorite MJ becoming a shipper and cheer-leader for them, [[HistoryRepeats which writers and editors later had her do for Carlie]]) or having Peter [[InformedAttribute constantly say out loud how much he loves her]] and vice versa. They are never shown going on dates or having any interactions as a couple and the tension Peter had in that relationship was his work as Spider-Man, the death of her father George Stacy, and Peter wondering if he should tell her identity while Gwen would constantly cry and whine whenever he's not around. Creator/GerryConway who had her killed off to make MJ Peter's OneTrueLove cited this whenever fans take him to task for killing Gwen, in his view her death made her far more memorable and important in comics history (as TheLostLenore and Peter's ShockingDefeatLegacy) than she would have been had she faded away and been PutOnABus (which happened to MJ numerous times but fan demand always returned her to the heart of the stories).

** Played straight in ''ComicBook/BrandNewDay'' Franchise/SpiderMan with Carlie Cooper. Everyone, including Mary Jane, is trying to get her together with Peter and gushing about how perfect and wonderful for him she is. Too bad she [[InformedAbility hasn't really done much]] to live up to that hype, and the major problem that started with the pairing is that [[DependingOnTheWriter each writer seemed to have their own take]] on who should end up with Pete in ''ComicBook/BrandNewDay.'' Slott was in the Carlie Cooper camp, Creator/MarkWaid focused on [[BelligerentSexualTension Pete and Michelle]], and Joe Kelly always had [[SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl Peter and Norah]]. The latter two actually went through lengths actually showing the chemistry while Slott spent more time simply presenting Carlie as the perfect match. When Carlie [[OfficialCouple hooked up with Peter]] it looked like this trope would stick. And just to add some {{Squick}}: Creator/JoeQuesada invented Carlie Cooper solely so he could sink the Peter/Mary Jane ship. Who did he base Cooper on? ''His own daughter''! Luckily ''ComicBook/SpiderIsland'' put an end to all of that, and the finale of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' put the final nails in the coffin.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1'' has practically LoveAtFirstSight for Flash Sentry and Princess Twilight Sparkle, despite the latter being a different species and showing no romantic inclination prior, for apparently no reason beyond Flash being a generic NiceGuy. He's apparently so obsessed with Twilight that his appearances in subsequent works have him [[SatelliteLoveInterest either pining for Twilight or having no story relevance]]. This gets {{deconstructed|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree'', where Flash's similarly [[DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest crushing on Twilight's human counterpart]] creeps them out. Human Twilight gets a different {{Love Interest|s}} in Timber Spruce, while Flash is [[BrutalHonesty flat out told by his ex-girlfriend to let go of his feeling for Twilight]], whose responsibilities in Equestria leave her too busy for a relationship anyway.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has Big Macintosh and Sugar Belle become an OfficialCouple in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E8HardToSayAnything Hard to Say Anything]]", despite it not being established why Big Mac fell for Sugar Belle, who's implied to be crushing on him before he did what won her over.

Compare ShippingBedDeath and WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack. Compare and contrast StrangledByTheRedString, where two characters are suddenly paired off with little interaction at all prior to the hookup; while these tropes frequently overlap they're not mutually inclusive, as a couple who pair off with little build-up could still have decent chemistry and romantic interactions afterwards, whereas Designated Love Interests could have decent build-up only for the actual relationship to fall short.

Contrast SatelliteLoveInterest, in which the character is all about being the love interest and nothing else, rather than having characterization that doesn't fit being a love interest. Also contrast RomanticPlotTumor, where a romantic subplot is given too much screen time to the detriment of the main plot. Inversions of this trope include ImpliedLoveInterest, where the characters aren't canon love interests but are ''purposefully'' written in a manner that lends to that interpretation, and RelationshipWritingFumble, where the characters are ''accidentally'' written into a relationship that can be easily seen as a romantic relationship when the intent was much, much different.

* Rose Tico to Finn in ''Film/TheLastJedi''. Their romance comes off as one-sided; Rose obviously has a crush on Finn, but his interactions towards her are mostly platonic and he's more focused on reuniting with [[PlatonicLifePartners Rey]] (whom some viewers thought [[RelationshipWritingFumble he actually had romantic feelings for]]). Rose only knows Finn for a few days, tops, before she tells him she loves him and kisses him...and Finn's response to this appears to be confusion more than anything. The creators apparently realized this because the romance is completely dropped in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' (the Expanded Universe novel ''Literature/StarWarsResistanceReborn'' also mentions Finn and Rose decided they were BetterAsFriends).

* Some of the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' romances fell into this trope.

* Over time Stan and Wendy from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' devolved into this; initially Stan had a crush on Wendy and the reason they coundn't get togehter was because he would throw up in her face every time they got in a romantic moment. After a while Stan would get over this, and they did get together, but very little of their relationship was seen on-screen until they broke up, which Stan was really upset about for an episode. Later they did get together, which didn't really change much for them, still it would mostly happen offscreen and rare time it was important for an episode wasn't important to this stuff going on in the episode. Wendy's declining screentime on the show really didn't help in that regard, as well as the fact that most Stan and Wendy's stories usually don't involve the other in some way. When the girls did a LysistrataGambit in season 20 they broke up ''again''; seemingly for good. It really comes off as the two only are together because one of them is the main male lead and the other is female lead and little else.

* In ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'', when Abe first runs into Nuala, [[LetsYouAndHimFight she presumes him to be an enemy]]. Abe uses his TouchTelepathy to prove that he's not. During the few seconds they have a mindlink, [[TakeOurWordForIt that the audience doesn't get to see anything about]], they instantly fall in love. They have practically no interactions that aren't about the plot before the BigBad kidnaps her and [[HostageForMacGuffin demands the final key to the doomsday device with which he wants to wipe out the human race for her return]]. Despite BigBad being Nuala's [[TwinsAreSpecial twin brother]] who [[{{Synchronization}} magically shares all injuries with her]], meaning he is neither willing nor able to harm her without harming himself, Abe goes behind his friend's backs to hand over the MacGuffin, with no plan to prevent the extermination of the human race afterwards. All for a romance that the audience has seen exactly nothing from.

* In ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'', when Abe first runs into Nuala, [[LetsYouAndHimFight she presumes him to be an enemy]]. Abe uses his TouchTelepathy to prove that he's not. During the few seconds they have a mindlink, [[TakeOurWordForIt that the audience doesn't get to see anything about]], they instantly fall in love. They have practically no interactions that aren't about the plot before the BigBad kidnaps her and [[HostageForMacGuffin demands the final key to the doomsday device with which he wants to wipe out the human race for her return]]. Despite BigBad being Nuala's twin brother who [[Synchronization magically shares all injuries with her]], meaning he is neither willing nor able to harm her without harming himself, Abe goes behind his friend's backs to hand over the MacGuffin, with no plan to prevent the extermination of the human race afterwards. All for a romance that the audience has seen exactly nothing from.

* In ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'', when Abe first runs into Nuala, [[LetYouAndHimFight she presumes him to be an enemy]]. Abe uses his TouchTelepathy to prove that he's not. During this mindlink, [[TakeOurWordForIt that the audience doesn't get to see anything about]], they instantly fall in love. They have practically no interactions that aren't about the plot before the BigBad kidnaps her and [[HostageForMacGuffin demands the final key to the doomsday device with which he wants to wipe out the human race for her return]]. Despite BigBad being Nuala's twin brother who [[Synchronization magically shares all injuries with her]], meaning he is neither willing nor able to harm her without harming himself, Abe goes behind his friend's backs to hand over the MacGuffin, with no plan to prevent the extermination of the human race afterwards. All for a romance that the audience has seen exactly nothing from.

** Present Trunks, whose exact age is hard to pinpoint given vague timeline and animation designs, only claims that Mai is his girlfriend to impress Goten in the ''Battle of Gods'' movie; the sub-plot is not mentioned in the anime retelling, which makes it very jarring when Mai and the Pilaf Gang turn up in Trunks' house a few sagas later without explanation about the relationship except that they seem to like each other. Also jarring in the manga equivalent. Furthermore, it's given shades of Squick since Mai is chronologically older than Bulma and clearly has the mind of an adult woman in a child's body.
** Meanwhile, in the alternate future, there was no indication throughout ''Dragon Ball Z'' or supplementary material that the Pilaf Gang had survived the Android apocalypse before Future Mai randomly turns up as his ally and designated love interest. Like Present Mai, she has been de-aged and is chronologically older than Bulma, as shown in the manga one-shot. She's also apparently much more competent than she originally was, and never mentions her former friends as Future Trunks doesn't know a thing about them. Whilst not as squick, given Trunks is an adult, the fact that it seems Mai has not told him the truth is a tad off-putting. A new character could have been invented and fulfilled the same purpose to the same effect.

** Bulma and Vegeta basically got together because "a kid from the future said so." They had exactly two on-screen interactions before the three-year time skip when for some unknown reason Bulma dumped her previous love interest in favor of having a baby with the guy who'd once tried to massacre the planet. The implication seems to be that she simply had sex with him once and that any actual romance between them didn't come until after ''another'' time skip... but even then no explanation is given for why she hooked up with him on any sort of permanent basis.

* Creator/RumikoTakahashi, author of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', ''Manga/InuYasha'', and ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'', is especially guilty of introducing characters [[RomanticFalseLead just to pair up with other characters]], and then forgetting about them. Usually, they make a token appearance and then are never heard from again, or perhaps two or three times at best. Her justifications have driven away many former fans; she has stated on multiples occasions that she only creates some characters to attempt to [[ShipSinking deter fans from inventing pairings she didn't intend]].

*** First of all, there's Akari Unryū; apparently, the demand for Ryōga to get a happy ending led to the creation of this girl, who is so perfect for Ryōga, and shows up so few times in her subsequent appearances that she has been derided as a {{canon|Sue}} {{relationship sue}}.
*** Mousse got some major attempts at redeeming his character, which can actually come off as rather jarring due to the fact he spent the early series trying to kill Ranma; and once boasted along the lines that he would gladly break any rules and forsake any honor to get Shampoo, though Shampoo never changed her opinion of him -- while she did occasionally show him some "soft" moments, she spent most of the series outright abusing him and, on one occasion, was perfectly willing to go and play video games while abandoning him to what she believed would be certain death at the hands of a life-sapping demon.
*** Ukyō got an (attempted) and very literal LastMinuteHookup in the form of an effeminate transvestite ninja master, who appeared less than Akari did.

* Johnnie Goodboy Tyler and Chrissy in ''Film/BattlefieldEarth''. They have only a few scenes together and don't even talk to each other in some of them. Johnnie has much more chemistry with [[HoYay one of the guys he's planning the rebellion with]]. It feels like she's only there because everyone knows TheHero has to have a love interest. The [[Literature/BattlefieldEarth book]] is a little better, though the relationship is still pretty flat there, too.

* WebVideo/RedLetterMedia refers to this as "a case of the not-gays", when a character has an incredibly offhand romance or romantic partner for no other reason than to reassure the audience [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday that they're heterosexual.]] Specifically cited is the example of ''Film/StarTrek2009'', where all the protagonists and the main villain all show or mention an interest in a woman, of which maaaybe one is developed or significant to any degree. He also jokingly pointed out that it even happens in dog movies, where the dog will usually get together with a female dog [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics (usually with pink bows tied to them)]] for no reason and with no development -- though to be fair, it's hard to give a non-sapient dog romantic development.

* A criticism of the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' movies was that Peter and MJ had no real romantic chemistry (your mileage may vary). The third film certainly spends more time showing them fighting to keep their relationship afloat than actually doing things together and being a couple.

* In ''Theatre/TheMagicFlute'' Tamino falls in love with Pamina from seeing a photo and embarks on a supposedly dangerous adventure to rescue her. Pamina falls in love with Tamino basically because she heard that he loved her and was coming to rescue her. She's even heartbroken when he doesn't talk to her.

** Played straight in ''ComicBook/BrandNewDay'' Franchise/SpiderMan with Carlie Cooper. Everyone, including Mary Jane, is trying to get her together with Peter and gushing about how perfect and wonderful for him she is. Too bad she [[InformedAbility hasn't really done much]] to live up to that hype, and the major problem that started with the pairing is that [[DependingOnTheWriter each writer seemed to have their own take]] on who should end up with Pete in ''ComicBook/BrandNewDay.'' o Slott was in the Carlie Cooper camp, Creator/MarkWaid focused on [[BelligerentSexualTension Pete and Michelle]], and Joe Kelly always had [[SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl Peter and Norah]]. The latter two actually went through lengths actually showing the chemistry while Slott spent more time simply presenting Carlie as the perfect match. When Carlie [[OfficialCouple hooked up with Peter]] it looked like this trope would stick. And just to add some {{Squick}}: Creator/JoeQuesada invented Carlie Cooper solely so he could sink the Peter/Mary Jane ship. Who did he base Cooper on? ''His own daughter''! Luckily ''ComicBook/SpiderIsland'' put an end to all of that, and the finale of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' put the final nails in the coffin.

** [[Characters/SpiderManLoveInterests Gwen Stacy]] was absolutely this when she was alive. Creator/StanLee after playing with a love triangle between Peter/MJ/Gwen for a few issues had Peter get into a relationship with Gwen which astonished many readers who were wondering what the long-buildup and wait for MJ across 20 issues was all about. Even after they got together, Lee and Romita Sr. never properly developed her as a character aside from shilling her (such as fan-favorite MJ becoming a shipper and cheer-leader for them, [[HistoryRepeats which writers and editors later had her do for Carlie]]) or having Peter [[InformedAttribute constantly say out loud how much he loves her]] and vice versa. They are never shown going on dates or having any interactions as a couple and the tension Peter had in that relationship was his work as Spider-Man, the death of her father George Stacy, and Peter wondering if he should tell her identity while Gwen would constantly cry and whine whenever he's not around. Creator/GerryConway who had her killed off to make MJ Peter's OneTrueLove cited this whenever fans take him to task for killing Gwen, in his view her death made her far more memorable and important in comics history (as the first girlfriend hero failed) than she would have been had she faded away and been PutOnABus (which happened to MJ numerous times but fan demand always returned her to the heart of the stories).

* The relationship between ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'''s Ichigo and Orihime certainly has shades of this. Orihime's crush on Ichigo is established early on as a childish schoolgirl crush based on an idealized version of him. [[PlayedForLaughs A lot of comedy]] is based around contrasting her image of him as a romantic white knight to how he is with [[FanPreferredCouple Rukia]] or [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Tatsuki]], both of whom know him more intimately. At no point is Orihime ever confronted with the fact that Ichigo is not who she thinks he is, despite some of the major themes of the series dealing with that kind of dynamic. As for Ichigo's feelings towards Orihime, they are left a mystery for the entirety of the series, [[spoiler:making it very jarring when they're depicted as [[BabiesEverAfter married in the series epilogue]].]]

Compare ShippingBedDeath. Compare and contrast StrangledByTheRedString, where two characters are suddenly paired off with little interaction at all prior to the hookup; while these tropes frequently overlap they're not mutually inclusive, as a couple who pair off with little build-up could still have decent chemistry and romantic interactions afterwards, whereas Designated Love Interests could have decent build-up only for the actual relationship to fall short.

* ''House of Stairs'' {{defie|dTrope}}s this in the end. The last two protagonists get out of the building, and they're walking together and holding hands. The male lead then spends a paragraph lecturing the reader on how not all inter-gender relationships are sexual. {{Anvilicious}}, perhaps, but probably necessary given how common this trope is.

Compare ShippingBedDeath. Compare and contrast StrangledByTheRedString, where two characters are suddenly paired off with little interaction at all prior to the hookup. Contrast SatelliteLoveInterest, in which the character is all about being the love interest and nothing else, rather than having characterization that doesn't fit being a love interest. Also contrast RomanticPlotTumor, where a romantic subplot is given too much screen time to the detriment of the main plot. Inversions of this trope include ImpliedLoveInterest, where the characters aren't canon love interests but are ''purposefully'' written in a manner that lends to that interpretation, and RelationshipWritingFumble, where the characters are ''accidentally'' written into a relationship that can be easily seen as a romantic relationship when the intent was much, much different.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'', a major part of Palla's character in all her appearances is meant to be [[UnrequitedLoveLastsForever her tragically doomed love for Abel]], despite the fact that he only has eyes for her sister. The thing is, scour the entire series across Palla's appearances in six different games, and you'll quickly realize that she and Abel have never canonically spoken to each other. In the early games, this was excusable, since many characters had very little dialogue or characterization, but even in ''New Mystery'', which added a lot of additional dialogue in the main campaign, along with support conversations that allowed characters to speak with each other between battles, they ''still'' don't have any way to talk to each other. Even when Palla brings up her feelings with other characters, she focuses mostly on her angst rather than why she likes him; as far as the player can tell, Palla loves Abel because... she just does.

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': Regina and Robin Hood slide into this from Season 4 onwards. Despite being [[BecauseDestinySaysSo destined soulmates]], in Season 3 they share great chemistry, have countless moments of UnresolvedSexualTension even before finding out about destiny, and are shown actually building a loving and trusting relationship with one another; come Season 4, though, the writers start piling up issue after issue onto them: first Robin's long-lost wife Marian is brought BackFromTheDead via time-travel, forcing him to go back to her out of duty; then it's revealed she almost died because she was sentenced to death by [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Regina herself]]; then she gets cursed and the only way to save her is taking her out of town, where there's no magic, and Robin has to follow; finally, she becomes pregnant by Robin. The show then goes out of its way to try and uncomplicate it all via plot twist: [[spoiler: "it's been Zelena all along", who pulled a KillAndReplace on Marian and got pregnant by Robin to get back at Regina, thus technically morally absolving Regina of Marian's death, and plunging that ship into NoYay due to the rape]], but at that point the damage was done. With all the increasingly convoluted stuff happening all around them, Regina and Robin never get a chance to even talk about their issues, let alone work through them, and barely have any more meaningful scenes together. This, coupled with the quick and cheap resolution they were given, makes the whole romance deflate and just drag along in name only until [[spoiler: Robin's untimely death]].